Mildura Weekly – 02/05/14 51
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AUSTRALIA’S world-leading in-
vestigation into the influence
of soil biology on crop produc-
tion has produced new knowl-
edge, with researchers to share
their discoveries at the Grains
Research and Development Cor-
poration’s Soil Biology Initiative
II symposium in Melbourne on
May 15
Grain growers, advisers and
other industry personnel are in-
vited to attend the free sympo-
sium to learn more about soil bi-
ology and how it can be managed
for improved crop production.
Researchers
will discuss
new understandings generated
through a five-year initiative,
while also discussing how grow-
ers can factor soil biology into
their farming systems for posi-
tive impact.
SBI II co-ordinator, Associate
Professor Pauline Mele, said the
research program – comprising
17 projects across the northern,
southern and western cropping
regions – had produced impor-
tant insights that would inform
growers’ future practices.
“This initiative set out to
build a baseline of knowledge,
and we now have a far greater
understanding of the impact of
farming practices on soil quality
and functioning, and most im-
portantly the role of biology in
influencing nutrient availability
and disease suppression and ul-
timately profitability,” she said.
“We are now in a position
where we have credible new in-
formation that will no
doubt be of interest
and use to growers and
others, and this sym-
posium will be the first
of a number of forums
and platforms for shar-
ing that knowledge.”
To be held at
AgriBio in Bundoora,
the symposium will
explore the role of bi-
ology in plant nutrient supply,
how suppressive soils function
and how to monitor soil quality
with new tools and technologies.
Grower input will also be
sought on how information can
be delivered to meet regional
needs.
Headlining the symposium
will be University of Chicago
microbiologist Jack Gilbert –
who was recently featured on the
ABC’s Landline program.
He will present the world
view on soil microbial commu-
nities and the relevance of these
in food production systems now
and into the future, and where
GRDC’s SBI II investment fits
into the global research effort.
The soil biological resource
is seen as something of the ‘last
frontier’ for the grains industry
in terms of unexplored avenues
to increased productivity.
Scientists involved in SBI II
agree that the initiative is mak-
ing considerable progress in
understanding the composition
of the living fraction of soils
which support crop production,
and how growers can best man-
age soils to maximise nutrient
capture and defend against crop
disease.
“The current five-year phase
of the Soil Biology Initiative
–
due to be completed in mid-
2014 – has involved ‘world-beat-
ing’ science,” Associate Professor
Mele said.
“Although it is very much pio-
neering work, on a global scale
we are now in a position where
we can start to validate some of
the findings, and from there pro-
vide growers with recommenda-
tions on cultural management
options and resource support.”
The initiative – which builds
on the knowledge generated
from the previous GRDC-fund-
ed Soil Biology Initiative I pro-
gram that ran from 2002 to 2006
and set the foundations for this
research – has also led to in-
creased capacity and capability
in relevant scientific fields and
disciplines.
GRDC Senior Manager of
Natural Resources, Dr Martin
Blumenthal, said the initiative
was focused on demonstrating
how soil biology contributed to
profitable grain growing.
“We want to deliver outcomes
that will enable growers to fos-
ter positive change within their
farming systems,” he said.
GRDC-funded research into
soil biology will continue be-
yond June this year, and an
extension program will be un-
dertaken to inform and equip
growers with resources to sup-
port them in adoption of recom-
mended practices.
More information – or to
register interest in attending
the symposium – is available by
contacting Pauline Mele on (03)
9032 7083 or 0409 543 935, via
email; pauline.mele@depi.vic.
gov.au – or by visiting www.grdc.
com.au/soilbiology.
The Land
Living on
Vinnie Rodi
with
Soil biology research to
be featured at symposium
• NEW FRONTIERS: SBI II co-ordinator, Associate Professor Pauline Mele, says the GRDC research program
comprising 17 projects across the northern, southern and western cropping regions has produced some
important insights that will inform grain growers about future practices.
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